Vassar College Endowment
Vassar’s endowment was established by its founder, Matthew Vassar, in 1868. The endowment has grown over the decades thanks to the generosity of donors and from the investments’ return over time. It enables the College to serve and sustain generations of learners and educators year after year.
Endowment Basics
Vassar’s endowment is made up of more than 1,200 individual endowment gifts. These gifts are pooled together and invested which allows the endowment to grow and provide ongoing support for the College’s mission. Donors designate what their gifts can be used for, including necessities like student financial aid and support, faculty recruitment and retention, critical programs, and college operations.
Endowment Basics
Vassar’s endowment is made up of more than 1,200 individual endowment gifts. These gifts are pooled together and invested which allows the endowment to grow and provide ongoing support for the College’s mission. Donors designate how their gifts may be used, including for necessities like student financial aid and support, faculty recruitment and retention, critical programs, and College operations.
The Endowment and Financial Aid
Spending from the endowment contributes almost 30% of the College’s annual operating budget, making it a crucial source of support. The endowment plays a vital role in supporting Vassar’s need-blind admissions policy, ensuring that all students, regardless of their financial background, can be admitted to Vassar. Importantly, it allows Vassar to meet the full demonstrated financial need of every student, providing the necessary funding to make a Vassar education accessible to talented individuals from all walks of life.
Healthcare & Medicine session at Rockefeller Hall.
Having class on the Thompson Memorial Library lawn.
FLI Mini-Course in biology with Leroy Cooper, Associate Professor of Biology.
Sophomore Career Connections at Skinner Hall of Music.
FLI Mini-Course in English with Matthew Schultz Adjunct Associate Professor of English.
Class in the New England Building.
Endowment Management
The Board of Trustees has a fiduciary responsibility to ensure the endowment is managed to support both current and future needs of the College. The Board oversees the investments of the endowment assets and the annual spending from the endowment. Gifts to the endowment must be invested in a way that generates income to support the College in perpetuity.
How the endowment is spent
The Board of Trustees approves the College’s endowment spending rule, which is a formula-based approach to calculate the amount drawn from the endowment each year. The spending rule is designed to provide stable income to support Vassar students, faculty, and operations today, while growing the endowment to support higher operating costs in the future. The income from the endowment must be spent according to the restrictions for each individual gift.
How the endowment is invested
The Board delegates oversight of the endowment investments to the Investments Committee. The Investments Committee is responsible for strategic oversight of the endowment. They select the endowment’s Investment Manager, oversee their performance, and set the strategic direction for asset allocation. The committee works closely with the College’s financial team to ensure that the endowment is managed in line with Vassar's financial goals and policies.
The Investments Committee hired Pathstone, previously known as Hall Capital Partners, to manage the day-to-day operations of the endowment. Pathstone is an experienced investment firm that focuses on building a diversified portfolio to support regular annual spending and growth over time with prudent levels of risk. Pathstone selects funds in which to invest in accordance with the asset allocation approved by the Investment Committee. When selecting funds Pathstone’s extensive diligence incorporates a thorough assessment of potential risks and returns. Managers of funds have discretion to select the securities in which they invest, and typically Vassar’s money is pooled with other investors in the fund.
The long-term asset allocation approved by the Investments Committee
The Vassar College endowment is a cornerstone of the College’s long-term financial stability. Through the generosity of our donors and the careful management of our endowment, we will provide ongoing support for academic excellence, financial aid, faculty development, and campus initiatives for generations to come.
*including venture capital
The long-term asset allocation approved by the Investments Committee
- 35%Private Equity
(including venture capital)
- 25%Public Equities
- 15%Marketable Alternatives
- 12%Cash and Fixed Income
- 8%Real Assets
- 5%Hybrid
The Vassar College endowment is a cornerstone of the College’s long-term financial stability. Through the generosity of our donors and the careful management of our endowment, we will provide ongoing support for academic excellence, financial aid, faculty development, and campus initiatives for generations to come.
Frequently Asked Questions
No. Funds collected from students, such as tuition and fees, are separate from the endowment and are used solely to support College operations.
Fund managers have discretion over security selection and may change the portfolio frequently. Manager trading and investment decisions are proprietary information belonging to the manager and are typically shared only on the condition that Vassar maintain confidentiality with respect to manager holdings and trading decisions. This process is standard in investing.
Vassar depends on the income received from the endowment each year to provide fiscal stability over the long term. Our endowment enables Vassar to have admission and financial aid policies to attract, enroll, and support the most qualified students regardless of their family’s financial means. It also allows us to recruit and retain the best faculty, ensuring the continual strengthening of our distinctive liberal arts mission.
The most important difference between gifts to the endowment and other giving, such as the Vassar Fund, is endowment gifts can’t be spent. Endowment gifts, per contract and state regulations, must be invested and only the income can be spent. Other gifts can be fully spent.
The endowment’s mission is to contribute financial support to both the present and future needs of the College and its students, faculty, and staff. The endowment that supports Vassar today was accumulated over generations through the generosity of alumni and other benefactors. We have a duty to ensure that the benefits of the endowment are fairly distributed in a manner that supports today's needs and provides for the needs of future generations. We want to support and build on Vassar's position as one of the leading liberal arts colleges in the country with talented faculty and vibrant, engaged students. This means we must balance the current spending needs with the preservation and growth of the endowment over the long term.
See the Board statement on this. Vassar does not divest because Vassar does not want to sacrifice returns on the endowment because it can result in a substantial loss of money needed to support the educational mission and because it would put the Board at legal risk for not fulfilling its fiduciary duty.
Endowment Management
The Board of Trustees has a fiduciary responsibility to ensure the endowment is managed to support both current and future needs of the College. The Board oversees the investments of the endowment assets and the annual spending from the endowment. Gifts to the endowment must be invested in a way that generates income to support the College in perpetuity.
How the endowment is spent
The Board of Trustees approves the College’s endowment spending rule, which is a formula-based approach to calculate the amount drawn from the endowment each year. The spending rule is designed to provide a stable income stream to support operations balancing current needs and growing the endowment to support higher operating costs over time. The income from the endowment must be spent according to the restrictions for each individual gift.
34% Financial Aid
32% Instruction
20% General Operations
14% Program Support
How the endowment is invested
The Board delegates oversight of the endowment investments to the Investments Committee. The Investments Committee is responsible for strategic oversight of the endowment. They select the endowment’s Investment Manager, oversee their performance, and set the strategic direction for asset allocation. The committee works closely with the College’s financial team to ensure that the endowment is managed in line with Vassar's financial goals and policies.
The Investments Committee hired Pathstone, previously known as Hall Capital Partners, to manage the day-to-day operations of the endowment. Pathstone is an experienced investment firm that focuses on building a diversified portfolio that supports regular annual spending and growth over time with prudent levels of risk. Pathstone selects funds in which to invest in accordance with the asset allocation approved by the Investment Committee. When selecting funds Pathstone’s extensive diligence incorporates many assessments of their potential risks and returns including managers’ incorporation of sustainability considerations that affect the long-term value of their investments. Managers of funds have discretion as to which securities to invest in and typically Vassar’s money is pooled with other investors in the fund.
The long-term asset allocation approved by the Investments Committee
35% Private Equity (including venture capital)
25% Public Equities
15% Marketable Alternatives
12% Cash and Fixed Income
8% Real Assets
5% Hybrid
The Vassar College endowment is a cornerstone of the College’s long-term financial stability. Through the generosity of our donors and the careful management of our endowment, we will provide ongoing support for academic excellence, financial aid, faculty development, and campus initiatives for generations to come.
The Board of Trustees approves the College’s endowment spending rule, which is a formula-based approach to calculate the amount drawn from the endowment each year. The spending rule is designed to provide a stable income stream to support operations balancing current needs and growing the endowment to support higher operating costs over time. The income from the endowment must be spent according to the restrictions for each individual gift.
How the endowment is spent
- 34%Financial Aid
- 32%Instruction
- 20%General Operations
- 14%Program Support